WEEKLY FISHING REPORT 10TH JULY 2013

Winter is definitely in the air and those that have gotten up early enough can surely feel it. There is still a fair number of Shad around, although they are here today and gone tomorrow and most of the popular sites have started to see better sized fish. The lower SouthCoast is still producing more game fish whilst NorthCoast has provided bigger Grey Sharks and other Shark species.

Rock and Surf

KosiBay Winter fishing in this pristine area is usually very good and there have been some Bonefish as well as smaller Kingfish species and a few bigger Sharks keeping anglers that make the trip up there well entertained.

St Lucia/Cape Vidal  Both of these spots are still being inundated with Shad in the early mornings and late afternoons. Some of these Shad runs have lasted up until the next tide has pushed them out to sea again. In amongst these Shad other species such as Kingfish and a handful of Goatfish were also caught on bait.

Mapelane/Richards Bay  Shad are running quite well here, especially in the early morning, although there does not seem to be too many Game fish chasing the Shad. For non-edible anglers there have been a few bigger Sharks around and it is well worth using the Saltwater Slide trace with Mustad Hoodlum hooks to target one of these fish.

Tugela  Recently a group of anglers went to fish this spot and although the water was off colour they still managed to land some small Kob on Paddle tails and Shad in the early morning.

Umhloti/Umhlanga  For the non-edible anglers this would be the pick of the week, as last week saw bigger Grey Sharks in the 15-20 kilo range. There were a few anglers that used small Sharks for swim baits that had 250 pound wire bitten through cleanly.

Virginia/Umgeni North Bank  A somewhat quieter week for these areas with Shad being somewhat sporadic and small at that.Majority of the fish were caught on Japanese Mackerel and it seems that the Shad have wizened up to the silver spoons in this area.

Durban Piers/Beachfront  Anglers fishing off the piers have reported that there are a lot of small fish and bait fish in the area. One lucky angler managed to land a 3 kilo Stumpy off the Pier in front of a popular Durban Hotel. The Beachfront area has been unusually quiet with a handful of Milk Sharks and small Shad being caught on bait.

Bluff  This popular spot is once again a go to as the Shad have been more consistent here. The Kingfish are still in fair numbers. Why not give the Paddle tails a try in the late evening and try and catch a Kob in the sandy areas around the rocks.

Toti  With fair catches of Shad coming out, this spot is also just as popular and its nice to see good numbers of anglers on the rocks in the early mornings.During last week a few lucky anglers that slid out live Shad were rewarded with a Garrick, although the Garrick have been very infrequent indeed.

Winklespruit  It would seem that the Shad frequent this area mainly on a low tide and for short spells at a time. If you are lucky enough to catch one, then its definitely the bait of choice to put out to try and tempt a Garrick.

Umkomaas  The river mouth area and the Pier have produced some small Grunter and Snapper Salmon with the odd bigger sized Kob in the 10+ kilo range coming out. The area further south known as the ledges has also produced some small Kingfish, mainly Black tip Kingies and some nice Cave Bass with a Stone Bream or two in the mix.

Scottburgh  Another spot that usually this time of year delivers the goods has not lived up to its reputation. Only juvenile Grey Sharks and a lonely Skate were all that was reported for last week. Anglers targeting Shad in front of the hotel have been left scratching their heads as the fish are there one day and gone the next.

Sizela  Not a well-known spot except to those local to the area. There have been a few Garrick caught on live baits in this area, although the live baits have been difficult to catch.

Hibberdene/Trafalgar  For some strange reason and perhaps its too early in the season, the usually plentiful Bronze Bream have not been forthcoming. Anglers have had to put in longer hours in order to catch these fish. Hibberdene is still producing Shad and like their cousins further up the coast have started to prefer bait to the traditional S-bend spoon.

Margate  With the holidays in full swing, this area has seen a bit more activity than usual. There have been reports of Shad, Stone Bream and the odd Bronze Bream all being caught. The non-edible anglers try as they might have not had much success with only a few small Grey Sharks and one small Skate. Terry Nel from Tacklenet reports that in the Port Edward area,fishing last week has been pretty good, with Shad being landed every day and having Garrick coming out almost daily at all deep-water points in the area. Bronze Bream are still on the bite with Stone Breamand Black tail coming out. Reports of Kob have also been coming in with the odd one being caught off the points.

Transkei  Good reports have been received of some nice sized Sharks being caught on Yellowtail slide baits and if you can get them, some bigger Bonito. The Sardines are still around and anglers have had the pleasures of watching birds and Dolphins chasing these fish. In some areas the Sardines have been a curse as they have kept the bigger fish out to sea and out of casting distance from the various points.

Ski-boat and Paddle-Ski

For those getting up in the dark to ensure they launch on time, some have been well rewarded whilst others could have rather slept in. Some Snoek, the odd big Yellow fin Tuna and good bottom fishing have kept Paddlers and Skippers on their toes when fishing the right areas. Bait fish are more plentiful now, so put these to good use when you are on the water.

North  St Lucia, CapeVidal and Mapelane – the Snoek have been a bit elusive but the Couta are making an appearance. The Umhloti/Tongaat area has seen some good catches of Reds.

Central  Great showings of Geelbek, but they dont seem to be feeding yet. Although in the deep at approximately 100 fathoms they are being caught, but getting heavily taxed by Sharks. Some decent Rock Cod have also been caught off the Bluff as well as some Garrick passing by. Good size Tuna have also been coming out although not plentiful they are nice size fish, with the current heaviest Paddle-Ski Tuna being 27 kilos. A beautiful fish for a Paddler to boast about.

South  Port Edward, Aliwal and Shelley Beach area  the Couta are scarce whilst some Snoek were caught off the shallows off Umkomaas. Reports have also been received of good Yellow fin Tuna catches and good catches of Reds off the Shelley Beach area.

DurbanBay

Both the bank and boat anglers have been testing their skills in order to target mainly Grunter. There have been a few decent size fish in the 2  2.5 kilo range whilst most of the Grunter have been juvenile fish. There seems to be a lot of Shad around, unfortunately also not making size. Centre Bank area produced 1 lovely Grunter of just over 4 kilos caught on a Sardine Belly bait.

Freshwater

Bass  Bass Angling throughout Kwazulu-Natal has been more productive throughout the last week. There have been decent catches throughout most of our bigger dams. Goudetrou has been the pick of the week producing extremely good fish on crank baits and spinner baits. AlbertFalls is fishing surprisingly well with catches varying in size but all in good numbers. Most of these fish have been coming out in the shallows. Inanda is producing smaller fish but lots of bigger fish have been sighted. Shongweni Dam produced 4 big fish that were reported, but the water is still a bit dirty, perhaps a spot to target after the school holidays.

Fishy Fact

Goatfish can grow to a fair size and are often brightly coloured. These fish are part of the Mullet family and are bottom feeding fish. They have deep elongated bodies and whiskers similar to Barbel which they use to target invertebrates. These fish are highly prized for what they bring to the culinary world.

ASFN Season 2 premiers on Monday nights on Super Sport 6 at 19h30 be sure not to miss it, there will also be six rebroadcasts during the week.

For the latest KZN fishing news presented by O.J., tune into East Coast Radio at 5:40am Monday – Friday.